The Catat Palace was perpetually undergoing expansions, possibly in emulation of the Shalea Palace.

So, it was incredibly spacious, and its layout was somewhat convoluted—perfect for losing your way if you weren’t familiar with the palace. In other words, those who had spent some time in the palace knew very well about the blind spots and shortcuts created by the expansions.

“Where are we going?”

Hayden quietly asked, but Lu only gestured for silence as she hid against a wall and looked toward the entrance of a corridor on the opposite side.

“So you drag me here and then say nothing.”

“Be quiet. All you have to do is watch me, but my life is at stake here. Let’s go now.”

Every set period, the guards would rotate areas to keep things fresh and gain a broader understanding for defense purposes.

But it had been hundreds of years since the last breach into this palace during the early days of the Caleta Empire, so the guards had become somewhat lax.

“Ah, from here on it’s off-limits, huh?”

“If a Caleta officer shows up, they’d wonder why ‘that woman’ is here.”

The floor was covered with red carpet and the walls, finished in gold, were adorned with lavish portraits and historical paintings featuring Carlos. Seeing one man appear in all of them now seemed quite bizarre.

The grandeur of the Caleta Palace was palpable. There were also many rooms accessible if one wandered around, though the place Lu was aiming for wasn’t accessible in that manner. Nevertheless, she could get relatively close.

Lu moved swiftly down the corridor, Hayden trailing behind, and quickly found another place to hide.

“When do you get off work?”

“I finish at six today.”

“Ah, I’m jealous.”

Voices of two guards conversing echoed from a corridor nearby, but the door handle Lu grabbed didn’t budge. Locked.

‘Locked.’

New guards would soon arrive from this side. The security of the Caleta Palace functioned like clockwork, with only a few seconds of downtime. Lu knew this, so she quickly picked the lock with a hairpin.

“This is gonna take a whil—”

Click. The door unlocked before Hayden could finish his sentence. Lu swiftly pushed him inside and closed the door behind them.

What kind of space is this? Hayden chuckled as he saw the cleaning supplies in the cramped closet. Clearly, Lu knew of even such places.

She stood pressed close to Hayden, intensely watching outside through the keyhole.

‘I can only wait for the guards to change shifts this one time. If I wait again, I won’t make it to the treasure chamber. I’ve come this far; there’s no turning back now.’

Her mind raced with the layout of the Catat Palace, areas where guards changed every 10 minutes, and others every 5 minutes.

‘Why is this man so clingy?’

This won’t do. Lu decided to move back a bit, but accidentally knocked over a mop. Just before it hit a shelf, she quickly caught it.

‘Ah, really cramped. That was close.’

Just as she was about to heave a sigh of relief, she noticed the hand also gripping the mop. Following the hand, her eyes met Hayden’s.

His gray eyes, emotionless in the darkness, stared back at her. Their gazes intertwined, far too close for comfort.

Hayden leaned in closer, and Lu shrank back, lifting her shoulders. After setting the mop upright silently, he stepped back.

There was no sound from outside now. The guards were in position. They had to remain like this for the next 5 minutes.

‘…I’m not blushing, am I?’
The place felt a bit warm. Being pressed against a large man in a narrow space, it was only natural. Somehow trying to minimize the area of contact took even more energy. Despite struggling to create more distance, doing so would make noise by touching the cleaning tools.

Lu eventually had no choice but to roll her eyes discreetly and stare intently at the keyhole in front of Hayden’s solid chest.

That night when she got drunk on that drink came back to her mind. Was she losing her senses now? Was her heart pounding because she was tense, or was it because of Hayden? Lu unconsciously raised her head.

“Ah….”

She felt her face heat up because he was staring intently at her. He looked at her with a calm face, slightly smiling.

There was nothing sharp or condescending in his soft gray eyes. He was just appropriately polite while clearly looking at her.

Lu looked back down at the door.

Strangely, she wasn’t afraid of the situation, perhaps because Hayden kept watching her. Five minutes felt quite long yet oddly short.

She clenched the hand that was about to fiddle with her hair, endured it, and as soon as the royal guards began patrolling again and a gap appeared, Lu stepped outside.

“What’s next?”

Having repeated this action several times, Hayden had now grown accustomed to whispering just enough for Lu to hear while moving swiftly. Next, they had to go to the treasury.

However, choices had to be made now. Lu looked around and extended her finger towards him.

“Why?”

“Choose one of the two. The upstairs treasury or the downstairs treasury. We have to choose one due to time constraints, but they’re close to each other.”